How many crew?

[kdf]

Off to France from Ireland in a month or so and am very short of my usual crew. Right now I'm thinking about going with 2 in total but keeping the legs as short as possible - Ireland to St. Mary's, St. Marys to Camaret, Camaret to ..

How many crew do people usually take? On all my previous trips we've had 5 or 6 so it's never been an issue.

 

[Chris_Stannard]

My wife and I ususally sail together and limit our passages to one day, ec Cowes to Cherbourg although we are planing to go straight to Guernsy (17 Hours) in July. If wwe want to go for longer passages we take a third person although I do have two friends who make long passages without a third (ages around 65 and 60)
It is a question of getting rest when you can, I often go and put my feet up for a couple of hours as soon as we clear the Solent to be ready for the shipping lanes.

Chris Stannard

 

[rallyveteran]

On the 1998 Blue Water Rally, 16 yachts habitually had a crew of two throughout the circumnavigation. Points in favour were:

eating was a lot easier, because there was no standing on ceremony
with a couple, you didn't have to worry what you were wearing
less uncertainty, with crew of unknown provenance

On the other hand, all went well except in cases of:

illness
injury or
equipment failure (especially with autopilots)

but usually the only hardship would be a slight shortage of sleep.

Although we all agreed the first 48 hours of any trip were the worst, as sleep patterns took a while to get established, this shows that shorthanded passagemaking on modern yachts is perfectly viable. And it can be bonding too!

Rallyveteran

 

[Jeremy_W]

If you're used to 5/6 crew for cruising [which suggests a fairly large yacht or very cosy sleeping , dropping to 2 will be quite a culture shock! You'll probably find that there are large areas of sailing that your remaining crew have NEVER done. They may never have done the mast part of reefing the main, for example, because there's always someone else more willing around. They may never have stood a solo watch... and the consequence is that they will call you up on deck a lot more than you are used to. If you survive the first couple of days the crew will blossom in confidence and skills, but you will be absolutely shattered.

You'll also find that sail handling systems which are well suited to heavily crewed yachts aren't necessily the best laid out for a short-handed crew. So, if you're used to 5-6 crew reducing that to 3-4 and seeing how everything goes seems a good first step.

 

[tome]

My wife and I do our annual cruise together and thoroughly enjoy it, at many other times I sail with 2 or 3 crew. Wife is usually seasick for first leg, usually channel crossing, so I've set the boat up for easy single handed sailing. I also limit legs to around 15 hours where practical. I've made the following changes to boat:

Replaced sheet winches with self-tailing versions
Good autopilot
Pack-a-main sail stowage with lazyjacks
furling headsail
Yeoman plotter on deck

The autopilot is the most useful item and worth buying the best you can afford: many people value them as highly as an extra crew! I'll probably fit a boom vang this year also (good article this months YM).

I find reefing easy to do single-handed with help from the autopilot if I dump the main but keep the jib sheeted so boat still sailing (even on a beam reach). I'm usually quite tired after the first leg, but my wife makes a full recovery and we go on to thoroughly enjoy our holiday (last year Emsworth-Cherbourg-St Peter Port-Salcombe-Weymouth- Solent-home).

It's very satisfying to sail short or single-handed, and makes life a doddle when fully crewed. It also forces you to make improvements to equipment and techniques.

 

[Paulka]

We usually cruise in family, which means 1 1/2 handed (O.K. O.K. 2 - handed) except for a few years when the kids were man enough to help, untill they preferred to be "independant" (Yes, dependant from the girl friend only!).
Crossings up to 50 - 60 hours (e.g. Balearics to Sardaigna) are possible and even highly enjoyable, provided you plan a quiet period for 2 or 3 days afterward.
As already mentionned, the autopilot is an absolute must. As is the equipment of the boat, particularly the reefing systems, although, I still prefer "conventional" hooked fore sails. No, I didn't change to roller furling system, and probably will not any time soon!
I use to switch from the Autohelm (electical) to the Aries (Wind vane) depending on the weather conditions.
I find important to "go to bed", changing clothes, etc. even for a few minutes - of course, better for one hour or so - I feel much better when going up, even if I didn't sleep.

Relax, go ahead, enjoy your cruise.

Paul

 

[Guest]

If you're going with two (1 1/2) is the 1/2 capable of man-overboard and dealing with the boat if you are injured?

 

[kdf]

Thanks for the feedback. The legs are about 17 hours long averaging about 7/8 knots but the boat while desinged for lots of crew has all the gear necessary - self tailing winches, autopilot, chartplotter, all lines led aft, roller furling gear, lazybag etc. So handling should not be a major problem